Download Mental Illness in the Work Place—May 12, 2016

Mental Illness in the Work Place—May 12, 2016—Speaker Joel Sanders
Understanding how mental Illness impacts the work place
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Mental illness- Diagnosable condition impacting someone’s ability to live, laugh and love
Within the US: 1 of every 4 people will show signs and symptoms of a mental illness.
What does Disability look like?
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It is not always visible to us: severe vision loss, gingivitis, non invasive breast cancer, paraplegic,
uncomplicated diabetes- we rally around people.
When someone has severe schizophrenia, severe depression, severe dementia, mild depression,
severe PTSD: we run away and do not “reasonably accommodate”
We cannot always understand someone’s trauma: mental illness may be more disabling to some
than even paraplegia
Recovery from mental Illness:
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Recovery is possible if it is defined as the ability to get back to living, laughing, loving (function in
society)
We need to give encouragement to people and not let this define them (remove the stigma)
In order to get services, kids need a “diagnosis”, if we do not know what to call it, then “Autism”
is often what it is named.
o Want you to recognize but not label everything as mental illness
Inattentional blindness: The Monkey Business Illusion (video Joel discussed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY
When we have a disciplinary issue, are we looking at the problem or do we go deeper (Joel gave
an example of sick leave abuse of a person who was masking severe depression with alcohol)
o People will lose jobs over the person’s fear of asking for a reasonable accommodation or
medications for fear of job loss, if they get the help
 General disorders: anxiety and depression, Psychosis, and Substance
Abuse/Addiction
A mental illness IS an illness and we need to destigmatize the illness by how we label it. If
someone has cancer, we say they HAVE cancer. If they have a mental illness, we say they ARE
We use negative words to describe people with mental illnesses:
o crazy unpredictable, lazy, uncontrollable, nut job, violent, unemployable, not
understood, emotional
We cannot diagnose people but we should be able to recognize signs and symptoms
Many people with mental illness abuse substances but not all substance abusers are mentally ill
Look for red flags
Anxiety and Depression
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Anxiety disorder is different than normal stress and anxiety
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Specific Phobia (spiders), Social Anxiety, PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic
Disorder, OCD
 What phobias do employees have that make doing their job difficult?
Major depressive disorder lasts for at least 2 weeks
o Signs and symptoms of depression
 Physical
 Unkempt, tired, sad, droopy body language, low energy, lazy,
overeating, loss of appetite, headaches, irregular menses, sleeping too
much or too little, unexplained aches and pains. loss of sexual desire
 Behavioral
 Lethargic, withdrawn, disengaged, angry, erratic behavior, crying spells,
neglect of responsibility, drug/alcohol use, loss of motivation
 Psychological changes
 Sadness, anxiety, guilt, blame, anger, mood swings, no emotional or
inappropriate emotional response, feelings of helplessness.etc
Interferes with ability to lie, laugh, love
Types of Depression disorders
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Bipolar
o Is not being moody- often mislabeled. There is a true manic phase (usually a model
employee, may be a risk taker, and then they are sick for a week-because they have
crashed- depression)
Postpartum Depression
Seasonal Depression
o People who work nights and do not see the sun are more likely to get this- what does
this do to people if they never see the sun?
Suicide Risk factors
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Threatening to hurt or kill self (we need to ask questions)
Seeking access to means
Talking, writing or posting on social media about death/dying (think about active shooters)
Feeling hopeless
Feeling lack of purpose
Why do people complete suicide? They do not want to die. They typically do this because it is the last
best plan to escape the pain they are in
Psychosis
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Someone has lost touch with reality
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May have severe disturbances in thinking, emotion and behavior
Signs and symptoms of Psychosis (Psychosis is a symptom-can happen in many mental illnesses)
o delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, loss of drive, blunted emotions, social
withdrawal
Types of Psychosis Disorders
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Psychotic depression
Schizophrenia
Schizoaffective Disorder
Bipolar disorder
drug induced psychosis
Substance Abuse and Addiction
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In any 24 month period 3.8% of us adults are affected
75% of the affected individuals develop a disorder by the age of 27
Alcohol disorders are 3x as likely as drug disorders
Be aware of the “Useta” syndrome and the reasons
Difficulty controlling the use of whatever the substance is (Prescription Rx for ex: Opiates)people always overdose on drugs like heroine because of the way tolerance works
Preoccupation with the substance
Increase use of substance over time
Symptoms of withdrawal
Continued use even after recognizing the problem with substance abuse
Risk factors
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Availability and Social Tolerance
Individual and Social Factors
Genetic Predisposition
Substance Sensitivity
Learning/exposure
other mental health problems
Provide Assistance: Show RESPECT
R- Recognize the behavior
E-Engage honest conversation
S-Survey for suicidal ideation and behavior (what do you do if they say yes?)
P-Provide options, resources and information
E-Encourage Recovery
C-Consider Support
T-Take Action!
Tips and things to do
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Identify yourself, explain your role
Use the person’s name often
Make eye contact
Speak Directly and use a calm voice
Give plenty of space
Reduce extraneous distraction
Explain written material
What not to do
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No quick movements
Do not ask more than one question or give more than one direction at a time
Do not give complex directions or requests
o give simple choices
o Recognize the person may merely look at the last offered choice